Chapter 9 Isaiah in Hebrews
J. Cecil McCullough
T h e author of Hebrews has a deep interest in the Old Testament.' In view of this, it seems at first sight odd that he seems to make such little reference t o the book of Isaiah, a book which is so widely quoted in the rest o f the New Testament. There is one explicit quotation in Heb. 2:13 (Isa. 8:17-18). a few allusions' and some literary parallels/echoes which may or may not be coinci- dence." Conlpared with the quotations h m or allusions to the Psalms or the Pentateuch, however, Hebrews is indeed meagre in its direct or indirect refer- ences to Isaiah.'
However, statistical comparisons of quotations or allusions d o not adequately reflect the importance of Isaiah in Hebrews. Recent discussions of intertextualiry" have not only studied explicit quotations and allusior~s from one text in another, fundamentally an exercise in source criticism,' but also have attempted to read one text in the light of the other, concentrating on concepts, not just verbal similarities, of the later work which echo those o f the earlier work and which may have been provoked by a conscious or unconscious recalling o f that work. They d o this because n o author is an island, living in isolation h n l the rest of the world. Rather, each writer works in the context of a pool of knowledge to which many streams have contrib- uted. Occasionally authors will make explicit reference to a pamcular author, either to lend additional gruvitas to their work, or to justi6j their conclusions;
ofien, however,authon take an idea from the conlmon heritage and develop it, adding their own distinctive contribution to the field of human knowledge. In
'
He snakes at Icat 24 dtrcct ciwtzons from the Old Tc.mnrrnt and uses die Old Testanlent both topersuade and to ~ n r p ~ r e ha listcncrs.
1%. 1: 11 (9:13/10:4); Isa. 26:20 (10:37); Isa. 3533 (12:12); lu. 4517 (5:')); l u . 5 3 1 2 (tk2X).
"sa. 13:13 (12:26): Ira. 1432 (11:10);Iw.2h:11 (10:27); Isa.h3:11 (13:20).
' He n~akes nine F X ~ I I C I ~ references to the k n u t c u c h (Gen. 2 2 ; 22:17; E x d . 19:13: 24:H; 25:40;
Deot. '3: 19; 31 :dX; 32: 35,36; 3243) and ten to the Psahns (27; X:5-7; 22:23;4(3:7-9; 45:7-8; 95:7- 1 1; 102: 21-28; l04:4; 1 10:4; 1 18:6).
K.B. Hays. I?iir~x o j Smprun In the l n r m of Pdul (New Haven: Yale Un~veralty k, 1980); S, Moyisc. 'Intcrtextuahcy and the Study of the Old Testanlent UI the New Tesnmcnt', In S. Maylw.
ed., 'The Old T+srarnnn in ti* New Ti~arnml: I 3 q s in Honour o/'J.L h'orth (Shefield: Sl~cficld Acadcln~c l'rens, 2000). pp. 14-41 and the hibhography quoted rhrrc; J. C:uller. 'Pmuppmuorts m d Intertcmaliry'. in The Pursuit q/SiIpu: Semiotirs, Litmatun!, Dnor1srnu11on (Ithaca, NY: Cornell Unl- verslty P m . 1982),pp. 100-18.
a Hays, Frko~s. pp. 9-10,
IIAIAZI IN 1 III NI W TI.FIAM1 N I
the caw o f the airthor o f H e b r e ~ c , w e \\111 \Iio\v that h e doe\ refer \pecrfic'tlly t o Isarali, quotrng an authorrtatrve book ,a\ a \crrptural proof-text t o bol\ter hrc a r b ~ r ~ i i e r ~ t , but that aI\o 1111portant ttieolog~t-al theme\ wl~rcti are found In I.id~ah are echoed arid developeci 111 Z-icbrcwc Natumlly rt \\auld b e ~ r ~ ~ p o s \ r b l e , and. 111 nly \te\v, ult~~llately unhelpful, t o try t o \how that I \ ~ r a h 19 the onlv book where strch conteptc exrct and, therefore, re tile o r ~ l y \ourcr for rnch c o r l ~ e p t s tlowever, three obrervattonc encourage us t o keep IC'II'I~ 111 n ~ r n t i u l i e n we read Hebrewc Frrct, thew 15 clear evrcience, fro111 the c x p l ~ c ~ t qnotatron arld from allu\ron\, that the author o f Hcbrewc \I..I~ f a r i ~ r l r ~ r ~ r t h Iearah, \ct o n d , Isarah I\ Lery ~.\rdely quoted and known In the re\t o f the New ~Iectanient, thlrci, tlie explrc~t quotatron frorll I\ar.ih and \everdl o f the ec hoes O C C ' L I ~ 111 see ~ I O I I ~ o f 1c.11ah wilere rmportant tIieologrc'~l theme$ found rn Hebrewc prcdornrnate
I r i lookrng at the cluotatronr and ec hoe\ o f Iwrah In t-lebre\\r, we murt, o f cource, be very careful n o t t o h r r r ~ g o u r t\scnty-fir\t-century precupposrtroni t o o u r re'ldrng o f I$a~ah,rn p a r t r c ~ ~ l a r o u r divlrior~ o f t h e book rnto three (or more) eep'1r'ite voluriler w h r t h rnodcrr~ ccholar\ have found helpftll ' \uch a w'iy o f reatirrig lcalah would have been irnthrnhablc t o the author o f t-iebreur Wtirle he rn.iy not have had tlie whole book before t~rrn h e would have conrrdercd rt all t o be the work of the pmphet IC'IIJ~ (thoirgh hri rntcrc.ct 111 tlie hunlan .author \\a% prc)hablv IrrnrtedH) .~ n d w o ~ ~ l d have u n d e n t o o d rt .~tcordtnglv
T h r author ot'Hebreus q~rotcc Ita X 17-18 111 2 13 'And G ~ g ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ , ' i l \1.111 p i ~ t 111)
truct III hnn" And agalrl, "Mere a111 I, and the thrldren (;od ha\ grvrn me"' There hac bee11 \ornc di\cur\ror~ .zr t o wflether the word\, 'I will put In) trurt rn hrrl~' (Cyo E n o p u ~ xsxotOi% Cn' aii~tu), c o m e from Itarah X o r n o t , c ~ r ~ c e the phrase coirld eytrally have c o m e froin 2 \an] 72 3 (n~notO% T:(TO~UI CX' u ~ T Q ) o r I\a 12 2 (wsxotOhq Eooput t n ' ui1r3) But In vre\c oftlie fact that the '~utlior o f Hebrews quote5 Isa 8 18 rn the next sentence, the majorrt) of conlrnerltd- torc h.rve concluded that h e ha\ I\ar.ih X 111 r~irnd '
t l e ~ r t ~ t l r t ~ p wrth J C'. l)odrrlcrrr, I:UII~Z< (t\i\t<tti r\ltd~~Ttr. 1825): 13 l)ttI>111. /kt\ Ikah ./tuitld ( ( ~ o t t ~ r ~ g c r r V.ir><ier~li~>et k A Ru}>re< Irt, 1802) t<>J. t+Ietrktti%o})}~, 1~11alt 1-.$9 '4 X C I I ~ 'lid11~1~~11t~rr I I ~ I I I Inrrodurr~orr irrrd (:~~rrtmrtrrtrry (A13 1'). Nc\v Yctrk. Ilottblcday. 7tWN)). /\'no11 40-.i.i (LiNi?), Iso~irlt . i ( r 06 12003)
' Narc 111r corr<r\tcrrt ~\~tril.irrt c o i l l l ~ rr.lrrrr <rttlie trurrrrrr rutlror rrrd lrt\ .ittrtbutri,tr idtlrc \bold\ t o (;od. o r thc Son o r thc Holy Sprrrt \I h1) '\perk' rjr 'tc\rl@'
' ( ' Kt>c.;tcr. I f r h r ~ ~ r ~ ~ (A13 36: N c u York I )<~ublcd.a).. ZlXil), p 231: C1 I3r.1ur1. Ili~trdirrr~lr a r r t r .\'c,ur,t 7~~,rienrtir I4 (.Ttilrrngcn Llotrr. 19x4). p f,3. (1 Spri q , l.'lipfrrc 'lrrr !ltthrc~t.t (I'arrr (;al~rliln, 1')77), p 74,J Itirrrrg. l.'Eptrrr LIII.~ Il4hrr11s [ N c t r ~ hitcl: 1)clnchau~ A Ntc\tlr. t ' ) i i ] . tr5. A.\V. l t c ~ r l r r n r c .rrrd I'J Allcoc k (Lotrdorr Ep\r.orth I'rc\\. 1')70), p 211. E. (;ral)cr. I k r tlrrtf,a~ rltr I l c . h ~ r r ( N r u k r n h c r ~ - V l u y t ~ . Herizrgrr Vcrldp rttd N c i t k r r ~ hctlcr Vcrldp. 1')'Nl). p. 140: H . W Montrti<irc. 'Ikr. f:ptir/c ro tlrr I l c h r r r ~ ~ (HN'U:. 1.orrifoti A&(' I%lriL. 1')(14), p. 03. Ac I? Elllnpvorth. Ilrr. I.p~%rlt. ro tltr I l r b n ~ t * (Nl(;'I<:: ( k a r i ~ i ILrpiciq Ecrciri~.iri\, (:.irIt\lc. l'atcrr~o<tcr l're\<, 1003). p 108. L I V ~ 'tlrc* ~ ~ ~ I I > ~ . I ~ I < ) I I 111 v l .ih ' otnr\ fr<,nt I \ ti I N nttd I t i \ thcrcir,rc rc.~ronrhle to \tippow that v 13.1 rj\~orci thc tn,rncit~- . I t ~ l \ prc, c<ilrlK \,<,r,1\ frt>ll, I, u 17'
ISAIAH IN HEBREWS There is general agreement that the author usually quotes h r n the LXX, though not from any n~anuscript known to us at the present day.'" If he is quoting, however, h r n Isa 8: 17-18 in the LXX version known to us, then he makes several changes, the most important of which is the addition of 'and again' between Isa. 8:17 and 18, giving the sentence: "'I will put nly trust in him". And ag~in, "Here am I, and the childrer~ God has given me"'.
It is unlikely that Synge is correct when he argues that these words were added by a later copyist." It is also unlikely that the author would have added the words because he was quoting not fro111 the book o f Isaiah but h-om a Horilegium and thus would have been unaware that both phrases corne fiom the same passage." It is nlore likely that he is sin~ply following the practice found again in Heb. 10:30 of dividing the quotation into two parts'3 in order to ir~ake two distinct points which could not have been so clearly understood otherwise." In verses 12-1 3 he thus has three quotario~ls (one h t 1 1 the Psaln~s and two f r o n ~ Isaiah) each divided by '2nd again'. It is also probable, as Ellinbworth suggest$, that the emphasis in Hebrews' q~iotations conlrno~ily falls towards the end, 'so it is possible that the quotations are divided in order to throw the emphasis on to the second line'.I5 T h e author is, therefore, nlaking three points, the last one of which depends o n the fint two and is particularly inlportant for his argument. Jesus worships God (Ps. 22[LXX 211:
23); he trusts in God (Isa. X:17); he shows solidarity with his 'children' in so doing (Isa. 8: 18).
What then is the context of the words in Heb. 2:13-14? The author has been arguing for the siiperiority of the name of the Son over that of the angels.
H e has assembled seven proof-texts in chapter 1 and then drawn some parae- rletical cor~clusions h l n then1 in chapter 2: 1-4. His introduction of t'salm 8
'" Sec J.C. Mc(:ullough. ffrbrru~s atlil rhr Old X~~l.rratnrrrt (unpuh. dlrs.. Belfast. 1971); md 'The Old
Tertan~ent Quotanons In Hchrews'. M7S 20 (1980). pp. 3h3f.; E. Afilhorn. Ihe .CYprr~gtnra I,br)nge iifs tfebrirnftn<ks (inrpub. dlss., C;iicungcn. Ic)6h); K.J. T h o m a . 'The Old Teswnlcnt C~radorrr III
Hehrcws'. .l7S l l (Ic)64/65). pp. 303-25: A.H. C:adwnlLder, 'The Correct~on of tire Test of Hchrews t a v ~ n f s the LXX'. hbt~7'34 (1992). pp. 257-02; K . <;heorgh~u, 7ht Kok o(!f/tr .Srpru.e~nr rn ffebm13: An htvsr~galron ojrrs h!fi~~rtue uerlt S ~ I ' C I ~ I ~ C~~tt.<tdmrnorr n, rhu (1st c?fHab 2:3-4 In I+&
10:.77-38 (K'I.INT 2.1M); Tiihingen: Mohr S~ebesk. 2(H)3), pp, (rJ-65.
" F.(: Syttxc. flrbrnra atrJ fitr. Snlpr~~rcv (London: SPCK. 1'159). p. 17: ' A rcr~he took the fint half to conre f m n ~ 2 Sanruel 22:3 where the lderltlcal words oictlr . . . Thn~klng that there were two zltanons, one f n m 2 Srnlucl A I I ~ ttlc other from fulah, in r rrrornent of n ~ r s g ~ ~ d c d pethlrry t ~ r scpdntrd the nvo with the words "and a ~ a n ~ " . ' Cf. H. Windlrzh. I k r Bnrfatt die Hel~rarr. 2nd edn, ( H N T 14;Tuhlngcn: Mohr S~ebeck. 1Y31),p. 24.
''
C . S p l ~ q , l.'Epilrc a m IfPI~rt~rs (2 vols: I'.ira: C;.~hald.~. 1952-53). I f , p. 42. Scbolan have fi,urrd no cv~deni-e, however, rhdt ~ I I C author was qnot111g &III A florrleglunl; arid S p ~ q d o n not repeat the~ u g g e s n o ~ ~ ' 111 h ~ s later lone-volurnr edlrlon (1977. p. 74). Ct: Montcfion.. Hrhmr.s. p. 64.
" J. Moti~tt. T?tr Epurlc ro rhc Hebmra (I(:<:; Edrnbu+: T&T Clark, 1924). pp. 33f-
'*
F.E Ilruce. The I;pisrlr 10 rirr ffrbmca, 2nd rdn (NICNT; Grand Kaplds: Ecrdrnms, I'M)), p. 47:Montelion.. I 4 r b m ~ . p. 64; B. L1ndar5. 7he 711rolg~ ofrlre k r m to thr tfrbms (Ca~nbrrd~e: Cam- hrtdgc Unlventty Prm. 1991). p. 170; EUlnporrh. Hrhnws, p. 16").
" Ell~npv<>rth, fkhmm. p. Ifr9.
ISAIAfl I N THII N E W 'I'I~S~I'AMI.,N'I'
111 2 0 movec the reader o n to the next ctage o f t h e arp1111ent ho\c could one whose riame IS above that o f the angel9 be the o n e w h o lrved and cuffered in the way JCSLIS d ~ d rn first-century I'alest~ne and. more rrllportantly, why d ~ d the
\on of(;od have to suffer and bc humllrated rn t h ~ c way at all; T h e anrwer t o the tirct qucrtron 15 that ~t 15 ~ r l l y 'for a lrttle whrle', a r e k r r n r r to the LXX tran\latlon o f Pcalm 8 I f ' T h e ancwer to the second 19 that he had to ldentlfi krlly wrth humankrnd ( H e b 2 17)
It Ir rn connection w ~ t h thrr need for tonlplete rdent16catron wrth h ~ i m a n - klnd that the author quote\ 1% 22 22 followed by Ica 8 17-18 H e ascurnes tlirt Jesut 1s the cpeaker In all three quotatroll\ and thrr>ugh then1 rs rhowrng colrdarrty wlth cufferrng hunlan belngc In the quotatron fmm I'calni 32 the author acsumec that Jesus rcjornlng with the congregatton to pralce (;od It 19,
therefore, a colriiarrty rn worchrp o f (;od In the quotttrorl frr)ni Ira 8 17 Jecirr Chrrrt re expreesrng hrr own truct and confidencr rn (;od and thrr puttrng hrr tru\t rn G o d makec hrnl clnillar to hrr brethren In the quotatron frorn Ira X 18 he rdcntrfiec ever1 more fully wrth humankrnd by rtaridlng with the chrldrrn whorn G o d has grven hrrir Ldkrng acrdc the qucct1ori o f the orrgrnal cor~tcxt for the moment, and takrng the fundamental accumptron o f the author that Jcrur IS \pcakrrrg, thc vereec arc curtable proof-tcstc t o \ h o u that J e w \ wa\ rn solrdarrty wrth humankrnd rn hr\ truct 111 C;od 7 hat IS \\hy he had to be made for a lrttle w hrle lower than the angclr, that 19 whv he 15 '1 p e f i c t hrgh prrect In therr context rn Hebrewc, therefore, the wordc rn H e b 2 12-14 rnakc perfset
FCIIW
T h e wordc o f lea 8 17, 18 taken rn thrrr Lonteut 111 Irar.rh arc cquallv rtrarghtfonvard I w a h ha\ been rprakrng t o the krng and the people of the couthern krngdom, encouragrng t h r m to have farth rn G o d rn facc of the 5yro-Ephrarriirte coalrtron, rather than run t o Accyrra to cave them H I < oracle\, ho\\~rver, have met wrth n o riArporicc In !\a 8 10, therefore, he real\ them up and hands them to hrs drsc~plec Ac he doec thrs, he say\ rn v 17, '1 wrll wart for the Lord \ \ h o rc hrdrng hr\ facc from the houre ofJacob, and I wrll hope 111
hrnl' Hut even whrle he 15 trurtrng rn ( h d , there are crgns and portent5 fiom G o d ' l k h o l d 1 and the ch~ldren whorn G o d hac grven nie are rrgnr arid portents, rn I\rael, f m n ~ the Lord o f hosh, w h o dwells In M o u n t sron', and becaure o f thew srgnc, and hrc own trurt rn (;od, he refuter to conr~rlt the niagrcrarlr The pascage rr, therefore, tirrr~ly placcd rn the corltext o f the \yro- Ephrarrn~tc war, and the chrldren referred to are hrs two chrldrcri It I\ t h e ~ r nan~e\,Chear-Jachub arid Maher-shalal-hash-baz, w ~ t h tlielr d ~ c t i n c t ~ v e mecrager
' " Thc author rould trot lr~vc uwd the M T vcr\tiln oftlrtr p a \ \ . ~ v a\ tlrr I lcbrru UMKU vm mi I\ sprtral rtld nrrrns ' I I M J ~ htrr~ a l ~ t d r t11.1r1 (;od' Thc LXX tmnslntrorr (fiiurrt~nu; oiirbv ppuxir r t nap' iiyytinu;) can hc trrndrtcd. 'Yt,u t~rdde trtrrl Cjr .I Itttlr wllllc I'r\c.cr thm tltr rtrgch'.
\r?th p p u ~ b rt tnklr~g or1 a tetlrporal \enw rtrif hyyikotq u\cd to tr.rmlatc i P 7 5 K . '(;oif'
ISAIAH IN HEBREWS 'a remnant shall return' (Isa. 7 3 ) and 'swift to come is the spoil; speedy is the prey' (Isa. 8:3)17 which are signs f i o ~ n God."
T h e words in their respective contexts in Isaiah and Hebrews rnake good sense, but they make very different sense in each book. Given these very different meanin@ o f t h e two verses in the different contexts of Isaiah and in Hebrews, the question arises: what are the hern~eneutical principles followed by the author of Hebrews which would have allowed hirn to put the words of the prophet Isaiah speaking about his children into the mouth ofJesus speak- ing about his followers? There are several important factors to be taken into cons~deranon 111 answenng t h ~ s .
F~rttly,as we stated earher," the author was q ~ ~ o t ~ r ~ g from the Greek ver.iron of the Old Testament. rather than the ~ e b r e w , ~ a n d there are two variations in the translat~on found In the LXX w h ~ c h nuke the words more eas~ly adaptable for the author's purposes. T h e first concerns the addltlorl of a rai 111 v. 18 which gives the sins; 'Behold I and the children whom God has given rile anti they will be for s i p s and portents in Israel . . .'.The effkct of this change is to connect the first clause in v. 18 with the last clause in v. 17, and to disconnect the second half of v 18 from the first half. T h e transl,lt~on, therefore Is: 'And I will put my trust In hlm; behold 1 and the cli~ldren who111 <;od has given me and they w ~ l l be sips and portents'. T h e author of Hebrews takes the first two statements and the addition of the 'and' allows him to ignore the third. In the Hebrew text this reading would be inlpossible. The two statements (Isa. 8: 17b and 18a) are therefore taken to be afirnlatiorls of trust in God, expressed in the first phrase by the 'I' (in the interpretation of the author of Hebrews,Jesus himself), and in the second by '1' and his 'children', showing Jesus' solidarity with humankind; and the third (Isa. X:18b) is ignored.
T h e second variation between the LXX and the M'T which is useful for the author concerns the addition of the mysterious rui E p d at the beginning of v.
17. T h e presence ofthese words 'and he will say' puts the \words which follo\v in v. 17 into the mouth of a third person, who has, as yet, not been men- tioned." This opens the possibility for a New Testarnent interpreter to assume that the speaker is the Messiah, and so allows the author of Hebrews to put the words into the mouth of Iesus.
T h e second Important factor 1s that the verse5 come &on1 a sectlon of scrlpturc whlch was well known 111 the carly church and whlch had been con~ldered by them to apply to and to have been fillfilled In Jesus C h r ~ s t W h ~ l e the actual verse? 17 and 18 are not quoted anywhere else In the New
" B.S. Chdds, Itiatdt (OTL: Lou~svllle: Westrn~nster John Knox, 2(K)1), p. 72.
'' G.R. Cray.A Cnrirnl und Fircgcnral Comn~entiuy on the &wk u/lsaiuh I-XSVII (ICC; Edtnhur~h: T&'T Clark, 1')12),p. 256; E.J. K t s ~ m e , 7he Book offsaiah (Dublin: Brnwne 191 Nolan, 1926). 1.p. 108.
'"
Cf. note 10 a h ."
Cf. J. Van der Plocg. 'L'exi.gi~e de I'arrctcn testament dans I'kpim aux Hihnux'. R S 54 (1947).p.211.
ISAIAH I N 'I'HE N E W TESTAMENT
Testarrlerlt and are also c e l d ~ ~ r i quoted by the rabble," never, to my knowledge, referrrng to ariyone other than the prophet, nevertheless, the sectron of lsarah from w h ~ c h they cotne IS 'a well known quarry In whrch are found prophecies whrch J e w had fulfilled, and drfferent parts o f t h e chapter [XI were used wrth different appl~cat~ons'
''
Moreover the whole of chapten 6-9 was wrdely quoted In the early church, partrcular In Mdtthew''
As Ilodd p a n t s out, 'lfwe now look back lt will appear that there rs come grourid for behevrng that Isa.0 1-9 7 rrlay have for~iied for early Chrlstran ctudents of the Old Testament a w g l e corriplex urllt of prophecy, beg~nnrng wrth the vrcron of the glory of God'
'"
It rr a paceage, therefore, whrch would have been known to the author and conree from .I eectlo~l of lsarah whrch had been thoroughly worked over bv the early Ctirr\tlan exegetes, and whrch had been Interpreted n~esslanrcally by the111 Just a5 Isa 8 8, 10 or 8 14 or 9 1-2 were applred to Jecuc In the early<:hr~ctlan conimunity, \o rt was very ea\y and obvlous to the author to apply 8 17-1 8 to 111111 and to ascurrle that they had been co~npletely hlfilled In hrrn
A t h ~ r d factor rrlay be the author'\ vlew of Old Testanlent ccrrpture. As we have wen, he had l~ttle rriterect In the human aothors of the Old Testarne~it scrrpturec, but rather coricrdered thelr Lorltents to have bee11 spoken by God 25
For h1111, therefore, rt re God who re the cpeaker rn the whole of Isarah. In t-lebn.w\. however, Je\uc Chrr\t and God are r~iterchangeable what n sald o f
<;od or by (;od applre\ to Jecuc Chrrct Thrs 1s well, for example In Heb. 1:10 where a paccdge ti0111 l'\dIrii 102 (LXX 101) whrch orlg~nally clearly referred to God I\ appl~ed to Jew\ Agaln\t the background of these t\vo theological ac\unrptlonc, that rt rc God who IS the speaker rn the Old Testanlent and that what call be cald of God cat1 be s a d eq~rally o f J e w , ~t would be an easy step to put the worcis of Ica 8.17-18 Into the ~iiouth ofJe5uc Whrle t h ~ s IS posrlble, houever, there 1s no d~rect c v ~ d e ~ l c e from the eprstle that the author drd 111 fact take thrc hermerieut~cal ctep ?'
" l'locg, 'L'cseg+se'. ir 21 1: F Sclrroger. 1)er I @fiu~cr des Ikrhm~~bncfis eh S l ~ ~ f i a t r . r b ~ e r (Regensburg:
Vcrlrg Frrc.drtch I'u\ret, 1908). p. 0 4 . SJ. Kr<renirker. 1lt-l)ortriotr ofrhr Iil~r.~rlr to rlrr Hrbrru?. ((;mod Ilrprds. Baker, 1984j. p. 32.
''
Isd, S:H. I0 (Mdtt. 1:23): 1 % ~ . 8:12 (I I'et. 3:I.I): Ird. 8:14 (Kom. '-):33/1 I'rt. 2:s). Cf. Montetiore.f ft,bnua, p (14, drld k ~ l l l h ~ ~ r ~ h . Ifrhrnati. p. 16').
? ' For exphcrt tluoratro11.i alorle (orrutung Isaiah 8). lsa.0:')-10 (Matt. 13:15-15); 1u.7:14 (Matt. 1:23);
I u 9 1-2 ( M A K 4 : l C l h )
" (1.H. I)otid, Aciilriltrr~ to rltc Srnprirrrs: 7hr Sith-<mdt.ndrr .Yt-rt' 'lirranrmr 7hcobyy (Londor,: Nabet,
I'Ii2j.p 81
''
Hc \cldc~n~ mcnt1on.i the hrhlrral hurrrdrr wtlror, hut s~rrrply refers to (;od, thc Sorr/(:htrsr or the tlc-rly Splrtt '\pcrkrrig'. (:f (;od (10:30. lO:37-38; 12:j-h); E l n (I:;: 1:h; 1:7; I:X; 1:13; 2:12-13);(:lirr\t (4.3; 5.i: 5 : h : 6:14.X.5: S . S l 2 ; 10:s-10); Holy Sprrrt (3:7).
"
I t IS abo trrrlrkcly that I5~tati was 111 fat t referrrng to In\ phyrcal chtl~lrerr. tlioopli the author of Hcbrcitr rrx~y hrvr 5crn Srrnng pdr.tllels hetweei~ I.irr.rlr's ch~ldren arld Jnus' &v'rplc~. ( : C BlerlLn- wpp. lsarirlt 1-39, p. 244: 'lr a tclnptmg to rdent~h. the chtldrcn wltlr the d~scrplrs (as lludde 1928, H i ) htrr thc iontesr cuggnn t h ~ r tt n the rwc) ih~ldrcri wrth the onrmous tinma who serve as 9 ~ 1 s nt~d I)<XICIIR, I ~ A I ~ C I Y . p~+igxtr.~no~l\ of rt~ii~~tricrit crIst5 (cf 20:.%4). F~rthctniorc, p n ~ p h e n c Jlr-<-r}'lc\ ere rcfcrred to d% "vrti\" (hanirl~), AS 111 frcquctrt allmroru to " u ~ ~ i s of thr propiren" (httii.
h.zrlrt+hi'irxi). hut nc\.er a.r "chrldw~r" (yitdinij.'
ISAIAH I N HEBREWS T h e author, therefore, was returning to a well-known sectlon of lsarah w h ~ c h had been ~nes'ilan~cally ~nterpreted III the early C h r ~ \ t ~ r n c o r n ~ ~ ~ u n t t t e z and, using the LXX tramlatlon whlch he had before him, put the words Into the mouth of Jecus, who for h ~ n i WAS the con~plete fulfilment of the Old Testament scrtptures The secttori of lsa~ah (Isatah 6-9) from w h ~ c h the author of Hebrew5 quoted, however. wa\ relevant not only for the particular wonis quoted, but also because of the w ~ d c r context of those words, a context In whlch the thetne of perseverance In fa~th IS predomtnant It Ie to that w ~ d c r context that we now turn
T h e .~uthor hved In a world of orcitnary, vuhlerab~e people who hact been persecuted and who were In danger of fi~rther persecution They were, In fat t, a c o r n n ~ u ~ n t y of Chrrst~anr who were engaged In a pa~nful ctruggle for thew very euletence 'They were hard pressed by outside
force^'^
and by lnternrl dttficult~es.~~ and t h ~ s pressure haci taken or wac In danger of t a k ~ n g 1t5 toll on t h e ~ r internal sp~rrtual Itve\ The author'\ \onlbrt. word\, 'l\ecall the fortner days \\,her:, atier you were enl~ghtened, you endured a hard struggle \nth suffcr:ng,somet:tlles belng publlcly exposed to abuse 2nd affl~ctlon and ~oI::c- ttn:es b a n g partner\ with thore so treated' (Heb 10 32f ),and hls warning that what was In the past tilay be only a foretaste of what 1s st111 to come ~n the future (Heb 12.4-5) reveal 4 c o r n ~ n u n ~ t y w h ~ c h w ~ s only too aware of the poss~ble fate whlch awlred them"
It I\ no wonder that he Ir concerned that they are In danger of 'L~lln:g away koni the h v ~ n g Goct' They are, therefore, orci~rlary C h r ~ r t ~ a n people Itvlug ordinary, dlfiic~~lt I~ves 111 the first century who have to be encouraged to per\evere 111 them t ~ ~ t h , lest they be de\troyedThe world of 1c11ah ~c at first 51ght rather different It 15 the \vorld of hlgh polrtlcs H e begrns has book by referrlug to four hlnP o ~ u d a h (Uzz~ah, Joth'nn, Ahaz and Hezeh~ah) (1.1) and nli~tll of the book rs taken up d e a l ~ r ~ g
wtth kings, k~ngdomc and atfalrc of state In the scctlon of lsa~ah we an- concerned wlth, he addres~es K I I I ~ A l l ~ z d~rectly In ~ h a p t e r 7 and goes o n to addre\s the whole ~ : a t ~ o n ofJudali H e I~vec, therefore, ~n a very d~fferent world to that h i n i d 111 Hebrew\ Nevertheless, the two books are very rtnular In that both ronirnunltlec are addresstng extn-rile danger, whlc h raws the question of t h e ~ r trust 11: God In the caw of Isa~ah, the danger I\ t h ~ t of n.it~onal . I I ~ I ~ I ~ I I ~ ~ -
t ~ o n when the Sym-Ephra~rn~te coal~tlorl attacks them In the care of Hebrews, the dmger 15 that of lo\n:g thew fa~th through ' t u r n ~ n g back' ,. .
They \vould have hceir attackrtl IIV >ot icty 111 general rr c\clurrve rrr~)irtrthcr~r~ I I V I I I ~ 111 .I phlralr\ttr worl~l. rllry wouU dl\o have bccl~ ut~popuhr w~rh tlrcrr IbrrnrrJc\tr\lr colrrpatrtot5 ('i J (: h.1, C'rrl- loogh. 'The Brckgrottr~d t c ~ tlie Epirtlr to rhr Hchrrw5', IRS (Ir~rtltrr~rnrn~ rr tlir~c of' golrig to pre.iO, tbr a ltlll dncuniol~.
A\ src.<rnd ~ ~ i ~ ~ t r o ~ i C h r ~ t r a ~ i ~ they Lwrc I > C ~ I I I I I I I I ~ 11) low thclr C I I ~ ~ ~ U ~ I ~ \ I I I . . I I I ~ pcrhap. CYCII
rllcir dtsc~pli~rc (Hrh. 13: 1-16),
""OII tire f l ~ e t ~ t e oftrsfit~g. \ec Heb 1: IN; 3.8-'I. 4.15: 11.17. .lo-17; 12 8-4, oti thr rrccd fix ~~~li,idrttv wttt~ i e l l o ~ (:hrrrtlan\. Web, lik31-34; 13:3.